Update below: Are attorneys for accused theater shooter James Holmes considering entering a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, or NGRI, against Holmes’s will? A court document filed Monday hints as much. “As the Colorado Supreme Court recognized…a defendant’s own thoughts, desires and opinions about a plea may…
The Colorado Supreme Court has declined to hear a case in which Englewood-based Catholic Health Initiatives argued that it couldn’t be held liable for the deaths of two unborn babies at one of its hospitals because fetuses are not people. The case was the focus of our recent cover story…
A bill to register hemp farmers with the state Department of Agriculture has been introduced at the State Capitol. As explained in our cover story, “Green Acres,” the marijuana-centric Amendment 64 also made it lawful to grow hemp, weed’s sober stepsister. The bill, known as SB 241, creates a process…
DUI treatment providers are once again pushing a bill that would bar Colorado private probation companies from also providing chemical dependency treatment to an individual client. The question of whether doing both, or having a financial interest in companies that do both, is a conflict of interest was the subject…
Rollin Oliver pleaded guilty today to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Denver police officer Celena Hollis last June. The 22-year-old faces a sentence of sixteen to 26 years in prison according to the plea agreement, which is on view below. The original charge of first-degree murder/extreme indifference was…
A Portland man has been arrested for harassing the families of victims of the Aurora theater shooting. Kevin Michael Purfield, 45, is accused of “e-mailing, calling and using social media to contact various family members of victims of the theater shooting,” the Portland police say in a statement. “None of…
Is the media responsible for making James Holmes famous? Some people — including some victims’ families and Westword readers — believe so. “You need to stop showing the shooter’s picture and name, as you seem to enjoy doing,” a commenter wrote in response to a blog post we published in…
Carli Richards watched as a man dressed all in black walked into the crowded movie theater through the emergency exit farthest from where she and her boyfriend, Chris Townson, were sitting. He didn’t sneak in like a thief, nor did he burst through the door like a Hollywood gangster. He…
Fox News reporter Jana Winter was not forced to take the stand today and testify about her unnamed sources. Instead, the judge in the Aurora theater shooting case ordered Winter back on August 19. By then, an attorney for suspect James Holmes said several outstanding issues should be resolved. She…
Chris Bates’s reaction to the Aurora theater shooting last summer was one shared by countless other Coloradans. “I felt this really strong urge that I had to do something,” says the Fort Collins artist. But Bates was initially at a loss as to what. After listening to a talk about…
State lawmakers have passed a bill that repeals a much-criticized 2006 law requiring local law enforcement to report anyone they suspect of being undocumented to federal immigration authorities. The bill, HB1258, now heads to the governor’s desk. Immigrant advocate Justin Valas credits the bill’s passage partly to “having people come…
Fox News reporter Jana Winter won’t face such a tough decision tomorrow after all. The judge in the Aurora theater shooting case has delayed a ruling on whether to compel Winter to testify about her confidential sources until after he decides whether to allow a notebook that suspect James Holmes…
The judge in the James Holmes case has unsealed an arrest affidavit and several search warrants in the case. Among the details revealed by these documents — that psychiatrist Lynne Fenton reported to a police officer in June that Holmes made “homicidal statements” and “threatened and harassed her;” that items…
As Imelda Valenzuela Gonzalez headed into the Denver Immigration Court just before 8:30 this morning for a hearing on her deportation case, a crowd of supporters that had gathered on the sidewalk in front of the court building chanted in unison, “Si se puede!” When the 43-year-old mother of three…
Update: After DA George Brauchler announced at today’s Aurora theater shooting hearing that he plans to seek the death penalty against James Holmes, Judge Carlos Samour turned his attention to defense attorneys’ desire for Fox News reporter Jana Winter to reveal sources who gave her information about a notebook the…
The judge in the Aurora theater shooting case has agreed to hear oral arguments on Monday about whether Fox News reporter Jana Winter should have to testify about her unnamed sources. But he is requiring Winter to travel to Colorado, despite the fact that her attorneys requested she not have…
Last week, we told you the latest in the case of Bill Lee, an Idaho Springs rancher and mall Santa whose animals were seized in a cruelty investigation. Lee has agreed to plead guilty to one count of animal cruelty and has been granted a two-year deferred judgment — meaning…
Attorneys for Fox News reporter Jana Winter, who reported that Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes sent a notebook “full of details about how he was going to kill people” to a psychiatrist, are fighting to postpone a hearing at which she has been subpoenaed to testify about where she…
Family members of the victims in several mass murders, including Columbine and the Aurora theater shooting, are calling on the federal government to establish a protocol for a “national compassion fund” that would ensure that any money donated in the wake of a tragedy goes directly to the victims. “Our…
Bill Lee, an Idaho Springs rancher and mall Santa charged with 32 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty, has agreed to plead guilty to one of those counts. He’s been granted a two-year deferred judgment, meaning that if he complies with a set of conditions for two years, he won’t be…
Thanks to Amendment 64, industrial hemp is on its way to becoming a legitimate crop in Colorado. Tonight in Loveland, hemp industry bigwigs will gather to discuss how hemp is grown and processed, the market for the crop and what farmers interested in growing it can expect. (For instance, hemp…
A Hallmark Channel television series about a young woman in 1910 who takes a teaching job in a rural coal-mining town could be shot in Colorado if the state legislature sets aside more money during the next fiscal year for the state’s popular film incentives program. Last week, the Colorado…
